Laurelton, New York

Laurelton is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is a largely middle class neighborhood. Laurelton is part of the former town of Jamaica. Merrick Boulevard, which bisects the community in a generally east-west direction, forms its commercial spine. It is bounded by Springfield Boulevard, 130th Avenue, Laurelton Parkway, and Conduit Avenue. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 13.

Laurelton derives its name from the Laurelton station on the Long Island Rail Road, which was named for the laurels that grew there over 100 years ago. It was modeled after an English village, with stately Tudor-style homes, both attached and detached. There are co-ops in converted garden apartment complexes and some new construction with more modern designs, but no high-rise buildings, which has enabled Laurelton to keep its small town feel. The area of Laurelton closest to Rosedale and Cambria Heights is mostly made up of single-family homes. The area abutting Springfield Gardens contains many two-family homes. The area south of Merrick Boulevard contains many large, individually designed houses while many of the blocks to the north, running westward from Francis Lewis Boulevard, have attached, Tudor-style rowhouses. The eastern part of Laurelton contains a series of streets with planted center malls.

In the 1930s through 1970s and beyond, the neighborhood was populated by many Jewish Americans, but succeeding generations have been made up of people of diverse backgrounds, including African-Americans who moved up from the South. A vast majority of the people living in Laurelton are of African American or West Indian descent, however up until the late 1970s, Laurelton was a predominantly Jewish community.

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